The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Analyzing the Decisions

As of November 2011, four Circuit Courts have issued opinions on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Each case has essentially focused on two issues: whether the Act’s Section 1501, the Requirement to Maintain Minimum Essential Coverage, violates the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution: and whether the penalty assessed against taxpayers who do not maintain the minimum level of coverage is a “tax” and therefore authorized under Congress’ taxing power. These opinions are interesting but largely miss the mark in their analysis of whether the PPACA violates the Constitution…